SHOCK plans to install parking metres in Wilmslow and employ a 30-strong army of traffic wardens to patrol the streets have been put on hold - for the time being.

A decision was delayed until July as councillors faced up to the backlash following a report which recommended the bold plan.

Rattled Coun Hilda Gaddum said consideration of the document on parking strategy in the borough should be shelved.

She blamed "sensational" reports in the press and said the consultants' report on decriminalisation was too short.

The plans revealed the council could coin in £1.5 million a year in parking fines if the proposals to employ ticket storm troppers was adopted.

Venting her anger Coun Gaddum said: "I'm very unhappy with the local paper for sensationalising this story. It really is appalling and very unhelpful to everybody.

"What we're looking to do is work with Cheshire County Council to improve parking across the borough and I think we've been hampered by a lack of parking enforcement.

"I'm concerned at the shortness of the report relating to the decriminalisation issue and my instinct is to defer the report to try and make it better."

She accepted afterwards that the facts were accurately reported in the Wilmslow Express last week, May, 12.

Council leader Wesley Fitzgerald of Wilmslow, said: "This subject has been in the too difficult file for too long and we're determined to get to grips with parking problems in our town."

Later a spokeswoman for the council said: "We will be looking at the key strategic objectives such as whether to focus on long stay business users or short stay shoppers.

"At this stage there may be some strategic choices which members cannot yet make because we don't have enough data, for example, whether to pursue the decriminalisation of parking enforcement and if so, how?

"We will also further develop the action plan and as part of this we will also double check some of the detail in the document as some doubt was raised with regards to the reliability of the figures."

Wilmslow councillor Andrew Stephenson said the absence of a traffic warden in Wilmslow had led to an abuse of parking restrictions and a robust strategy was needed.

He said: "Speaking to residents on the doorstep over recent weeks I lost count of the number of times when they complained about illegal parking and asked why we can't have a traffic warden.

"The absence of a full time traffic warden has led to illegally parked cars making some roads impassable for large vehicles such as Fire Engines and blocked residents in their homes on roads like Wycliffe Avenue.

"Residents concerns are very real and on the increase, but it is also clear that the police are doing the best they can with very limited resources."

He added: "The only solution is therefore de-criminalisation of parking which would allow the council to employ traffic wardens, who could ticket illegally parked cars and enforce "resident only" parking restrictions.

The council is looking at various options, however de-criminalisation would improve the service to people without any increase in cost to local council taxpayers."